Mindy Tenenbaum

Do you really know who your dog is?

Mindy Tenenbaum has been helping people around the globe find out for nine years. Her DNA My Dog website and lab, based in Scarborough and one of only two in the world, sends out swab kits which people return for DNA analysis showing the breeds in their dog’s background. She points to her own rescue basset hound, Jacky, which she was told was also part Lab – “she turned out to be a basset/ golden retriever mix, with a little bit of beagle.”

A former marketing executive, Mindy had long been passionate about her volunteer work supporting canine rescues and shelters. In 2008, unhappy in her job, she started DNA My Dog with premises in a family property in Birch Cliff on Kingston Road. Later she went back to university to get her M.Sc. in veterinary forensics and now testifies as an expert witness in animal abuse cases. She also continues her rescue and charity work.

Last year, Tenenbaum moved her business and its 15 employees, mainly from Scarborough, a few blocks east on Kingston Road. “It’s such a great area,” she says.

“I think what we love about the neighbourhood and Scarborough is it is such a wonderful community of dog lovers. We feel like we fit right in.”